Found your blog on a search for Arduino.

I am in suspense waiting to hear how the tinkering turned out.

Got a roboduino deumilanove (arduino clone) from earthshine (Which I discovered the same day I found your blog but before I read your recommendation) but I have the opposite problem to you – financial constraints meaning that I have a board but not much to plug into it – forgot to get the power supply so I’m unsure if I can even do the blinking LED test program.

Might I recommend the excellent book ‘Making things work’ which was actually my first introduction to the existence of the arduino. Also, I’m sure you’ve come across it, but earthshinedesign’s free PDF on the Arduino is quite cool.